Anyone try cleaning the keyboard? - Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General

From searching this forum, I can tell that others are having the same issue I am having. It started out with just a couple keys and now about 50% of my keys require me to push really hard for them to type. It is not a lag issue as covered by another thread. It just feels like the there may be dirt or something under the keys that makes it harder to type. This issue also is not ROM related as I have flashed my device with several ROMS with the same result.
Has anyone had any luck taking apart the keyboard and cleaning underneath the keys? If so -- maybe post some tips on what worked or not.
Thanks.

I'd vote for compressed air

I agree. You might be able to disassemble the phone and take the keyboard out and use compressed air. That would make certain that all the dirt is really out of the board...

A work mate of mine did this the other day. He took it fully apart and cleaned it out with contact cleaner. Ill ask him wether it worked or not but I think it did because I saw him using the phone today.

contact cleaner
I've never heard of contact cleaner. I'll have to try that. After looking at this video for disassembly, it doesn't look like you can get underneath the keys. How did your co-worker do it? Pop off the keys like a laptop keyboard?

I guess some older thread on how to replace Kaiser keyboard will be useful.
Found this
About screen, but went through keyboard also ..

anagarika said:
I guess some older thread on how to replace Kaiser keyboard will be useful.
Found this
About screen, but went through keyboard also ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I found that as well and it was not of much use. The problem is not removing the keyboard from the phone. The problem is getting underneath the keys. You can see the keyboard front/back removed from my attached image. According to this other thread #119, #126, #127 they say it is impossible to get at the keypad underneath.
I might just take a can of compressed air and spray on top of the keys as best I can to see if it helps.

mwoelmer said:
Yes, I found that as well and it was not of much use. The problem is not removing the keyboard from the phone. The problem is getting underneath the keys. You can see the keyboard front/back removed from my attached image. According to this other thread #119, #126, #127 they say it is impossible to get at the keypad underneath.
I might just take a can of compressed air and spray on top of the keys as best I can to see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, seems that no other way but perhaps replace the keyboard ..

You cant get under the "actual" keyboard without breaking it off the housing. The keys can be pulled off from the top, but the actual buttons are sealed below.
For what little it cost, just replace the whole thing and problems are solved. Just did my son and daughters couple weeks ago.

Im foolish I forgot to ask him about it. Thinking back he may have damaged it lol. He does kind of charge into things and then realise he cant fix it.

Agree with carhigh, just replace the whole thing. Kaiser parts not that expensive nowadays. Just need time to open it up.

I have the same problem. Tried blowing compressed air from the top, but didn't have much success with the keys. I'll probably get a new keypad and replace it!

Sorry if this is a common question but where do people recommend getting kaiser parts? My N key and spacebar dont work without pressing it really hard and it's doing my head in!
Cheers.

Dommo said:
Sorry if this is a common question but where do people recommend getting kaiser parts? My N key and spacebar dont work without pressing it really hard and it's doing my head in!
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your problem will slowly get worse. More and more keys will require extra pressure. Not sure where you could buy a replacement now (the phone is kind of old). After attempting to clean the keyboard, I gave up. I am just using onscreen keyboard program that is included in TPC's ROM. I think it is called finger keyboard. After a little practice, I am actually faster typing on that than I was with sliding the keyboard.

Try this guys - worked for me in fixing my S key:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=431925

Ah. Did not realize the keyboard did not come out of the housing...

Related

Kaiser Front Keypad loose/wobbly -- anyone else?

Hey guys
Just recently got a Tytn II on the UK Orange network. I love it so far but there are a couple of hardware flaws I have noticed and are quite annoying.
1) The front keypad with the call send/end buttons is very loose and wobbles from side to side, as if the hole that it is in is too big for the keys.
2) The space bar on the qwerty keyboard doesnt seem to work all the time, and i will find myself when typing texts/emails with text which looks like "This is at est sentencef or my complaint" if you can see where im pointing. This one is even more so annoying because i have to be careful when typing fast. At first i thought it was something to do with PalmSMS in duttys new ROM but i uninstalled that and the same is happening. I didnt notice it when i first got my kaiser but only after the first 2 weeks have i noticed it.
Hope someone can relate to these problems.
Thanks
-mcall_r
im having the same problem. I've had two different Tilts and the buttons are both very wobbly. Not really a big issue to me though.
grandpareza said:
im having the same problem. I've had two different Tilts and the buttons are both very wobbly. Not really a big issue to me though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think its like that for all tilts, my is like that as well, but i havnt really noticed the thing about the space bar though...
ChInEsE ChIcKeN said:
i think its like that for all tilts, my is like that as well, but i havnt really noticed the thing about the space bar though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup, same here. not an "issue" for me though, as it doesn't affect anything. My spacebar works fine, I'm a text maniac so if it wasn't working I'd notice...
If your spacebar is still malfunctioning after flashing a different rom, I'd be concerned. My keypad is much more responsive using a well cooked rom.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure there have been a couple of threads about the general build quality of the Kaiser.
The silver call/send keys on the bottom are really nothing to get too worked up over though.
MorKaiser said:
yup, same here. not an "issue" for me though, as it doesn't affect anything. My spacebar works fine, I'm a text maniac so if it wasn't working I'd notice...
If your spacebar is still malfunctioning after flashing a different rom, I'd be concerned. My keypad is much more responsive using a well cooked rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the front keypad doesnt really bother me that much it was just to see if it was common on alot of devices. I actually work in an orange shop and have sold alot of kaisers where the front buttons were fine.
As with the ROM thing, i never thought of that but coming to think of it now i noticed it when i started using duttys latest rom with PALMSMS built in. I tried the non-palmsms version and the same thing occurs. I like that version because anything earlier, xT9 interferes with the hardware keyboard.
What is the exact version of the dutty ROM you are using?
Thanks
Same here wobbly keys bother me at first now I kinda like to wiggle it around when i am bored
I noticed that, too. No big deal, really
I too have the wobbly front keypad. I think its the same for all Kaisers. Nothing to worry about IMO. It works just fine and doesn't look like it'll be breaking anytime soon.
Regarding the spacebar, it actually is 2 keys rolled into one. So if you press in the middle of it, nothing will happen. Try pressing on either the right or the left side and you should have no problem. Takes an hour to get used to it
Willie3white said:
Same here wobbly keys bother me at first now I kinda like to wiggle it around when i am bored
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL you might want to reword that
and Pheonix, i know that i had always been typing properly before and it was fine, it was just the ROM i was using. I reloaded it and its fine, no problems!!!!
Cheers for all your input guys
WOW .. i didnt expected soo many guys with the same wobbly issue... i was really annoyed by it .... Especially when i am playing any Game which requires fast repsonse.... i once tried to put a piece of small paper under the Buttons .. so it would fix it in place... but after that buttons didnt work properly... but after 6 months of usage .. i now hardly notice the Wobbly Front Pad...
I'm on my 2nd kaiser (both tilt variants) and they both had the d-pad slides on both of them. I noticed its more on the left side, where the answer button is, it'll move up and down.
Also if what you type comes out slow on a rom, try the disable xt9 cab floating around, i know that was the fix for some of the roms.
Kinda sucks when what your typing comes out messed up and you send it without reading it and then people think your drunk... not good for business!
front keypad, ironically, just started to wiggle around yesterday. I've had it about a month (Kaiser-TytnII Pro). No issues with the inside keyboard(yet) though
hmmmm seems to be a flaw in all kaisers.
i dont think the t-mobile MDA version would be like that though.. the keypad is different on theirs.
Unfortunately when mine wobbles up too far in either the up or down direction the d-pad intermittently does not function properly... that is, if I press up or down it does not work a percentage of the time. Anyone know if there is a fix (I'm assuming hardware fix) for this issue? Otherwise the device is fine and I'd prefer not too have to send it back.
maybe this issue is the reason why T-Mobile has a different front-keypad on the MDA Vario 3. Mine fits like a glove.
Dust2Dust said:
maybe this issue is the reason why T-Mobile has a different front-keypad on the MDA Vario 3. Mine fits like a glove.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but the T-Mobile one is fugly and I want to get rid of it. I've bought the original one but the change is a little bit slippery.

so i dropped my phone in a lake and this happened....HELP

it all works totally fine.....
EXCEPT the e and w keys on the keyboard don't work
i have an AT&T tilt and was hoping someone new how to reprogram the button functions
i want to take the w and e keys and swtich them with the "ok" and "tab" keys on the bottom of the keyboard....
just totally switch the two buttons so that i can use the @ and ? signs when i press the "Fn" key
i never end up using the tab or ok keys on the keyboard anyway
i was hoping to make cab i could install like the tilt keyboard fix cab
only thing is
i don't know how to reprogram the keys or make a cab
any help would be greatly appreciated please pm me
UPDATE i just looked at my keyboard and was thinking to switch the w with the start menu key and the e with the tab key
thanks guys
Good to hear that your device is still (mostly) working after beeing dropped into a lake.
What did you do afterwards, how did you dry the device?
best thing to do is lay it out on a towel and leave it alone near a draft for acouple of days. let it totally dry out. if that dont work then you got some cleaning to do.
drying out
good 2 here phone still works, im guessing, but it sounds like u may still have some water under those keys (tiny droplets). The best way of drying a wet phone (or any gadget)(disasembled?(taken apart!)) is to place in as sealed container (airtight) filled with rice. The science is the rice will naturally soak up all the moisure around it. I've never tested it first hand but sounds like it should work. I think leaving it for 3 days in the rice should make it work. Good luck
you can also take it apart and completely submerse each peice separately in a highly volatile solution(rubbing alcohol will work, but i used ethanol), take it out and scrub for about five minutes with a toothbrush in all possible directions and then air dry on a towel for two days, yes it is time consuming but i left a test phone in water for three days and tried this and the phone worked perfectly
Buy New Keyboard
Expensive option is to replace the keyboard. If you go on eBay and do a search for Tytn 2 Covers or something alone thouse lines there are a couple of sellers that sell replacement covers that have the keyboards build it, and on the wiki page there are a couple of links to disasembly guides. Think replacements where around £50uk - Expensive and fiddly maybe, but your'll have a mark free case and fully working keyboard.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160244005122
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360055816270
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250253843809
Rice is the best option I always recommend this. It has worked for me many times
thanks guys.....i actually dropped it in the lake about a month or so ago, i just finally got around to posting about my non working keyboard....i ended up taking it apart and letting it dry on my window sill in the sun for a full day and a half or so....
you really think there is still some water under the keyboard after a whole month....the e and w keys are the only things not working i just figured that something fried that spot on the circuit board or something along those lines....
does anyone know how to reprogram the keys on the keyboard? is it some registry setting? all i really need to do is switch some keys functions
perhaps ill try the rice thing tonight thanks guys
You may want to PM TaurusBullba or __Alex__ and ask them for help. I know that TaurusBullba posted the Tilt Keyboard Fix for HTC Roms (Remapping the hardware keys to the correct letters). Also, IIRC, __Alex__ posted the fix for TyTN II's using AT&T Roms.
Actually, if you search for their posts, they may mention how they did it.
so here's a going to bed and hoping when i wake up someone has helped me fix this bump....
im gonna go get some rice tomorrow after work
ill PM bulba and alex then as well
thanks everyone whos given advice....i really appreciate it
ill definitely post my results to help any future "phone in lake droppers"
~j
AEKmap will let you remap the keyboard keys. I was using it with my Hermes to account for different phone/ROM difference. I don't remember 100% if it will let you remap the special keys too, but I think so.
Very nice to hear our phone can survive a full dunk. Mine fell out of my belt clip case while walking. I tried to catch it with my foot and to my horror, ended up drop-kicking it 10' end over end in a dirt/gravel parking lot. Picked it up, blew the dust off, put the battery cover back on, and it fired right up. I thought for sure it was a goner.
My hat is off to the HTC team for building a $500 device that can take abuse.
PQZII is another option for remapping the keys.
KMFM$ said:
You may want to PM TaurusBullba or __Alex__ and ask them for help. I know that TaurusBullba posted the Tilt Keyboard Fix for HTC Roms (Remapping the hardware keys to the correct letters). Also, IIRC, __Alex__ posted the fix for TyTN II's using AT&T Roms.
Actually, if you search for their posts, they may mention how they did it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What TaurusBulba and I did is just take the keyboard layout registry entries from a ROM (AT&T for TaurusBulba, HTC for me) and dump it to a cab, so AT&T users can use HTC ROMs and vice versa.
I do seem to remember yet another thread which tells you how to actually map keys and it may be linked in the wiki.
Hope this helps!
Most likely your problem is coming from "dirt/minerals/gunk" that dried on either the PCB or under the keys. Dunking it in a high volatile solution and swishing it around, or similar, may help. Obviously remove the battery!
O_O
your phone can swimm..
thats cool...
always wanna know . . . . . . . . . . does it float?
LOL . . . .dropped my old siemens M65 off the boat, it worked for 30 mins on 5m depth, but never found it back . . .

Unresponsive/heavy QWERTY keys

Hello fellow Kaiser users,
I don't know if this happened only with me or others have experienced the same.
TyTN II keys on the QWERTY after a year of use has some keys responding after the 2nd or 3rd stroke of the key.
Did anyone else experience this?
Is there a solution?
It is really bugging me when I'm typing an SMS or typing something down.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Hardware suggestions also I will try on my own risk.
fireblade63 said:
TyTN II keys on the QWERTY after a year of use has some keys responding after the 2nd or 3rd stroke of the key.
Did anyone else experience this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem here, but I started noticing it after 4/5 months of use. Would like to know about a solution also.
I feel your pain, this is what is really killing me because the keyboard is a very big part of the phone, and I've only been using it for 7 months. If i knew it would become this unresponsive i would of got an i phone because this phones on screen keyboard and transcriber is useless.
It happened to me after 7 months. The "c" key on my tilt started to become unresponsive so I called up at&t and had it warranty exchanged for a refurb. This second one was already even worse than the one I'd just sent back, so I had them send out another one. This third one is fine, although the "c" key (again, oddly enough) doesn't click like the others. It's responsive, but feels a little different. I didn't feel like going through the exchange process again, so for now I'm living with it.
My 1 month old refurb tilt doesn't type the keys when I press them sometimes. I should have that fixed. I thought it was a software problem...
My brand new XPS M1530 does the same thing sometimes. I guess I reckoned it was just me not pressing on the keys hard enough or something like that...
So I'm not the only one with the problem...
But no solution?!
Even a hint of what might be causing this would help..
have you guys tried using the disable XT9 cab ?
yes
I think it is H/W cleaning related
How to clean is the deal...
you can find disassembling guides on mikechannon's web. just follow the disassembling instructions and after you remove keyboard, try cleaning it.
Same problem for me.
I'm always very carefull with my device, and don't use the hardware keyboard very often.
Now for some letters I really have to press harder to make them work.
I have my device for only 6 or 7 months.
Have had my Kaiser for 6 months now and the Y and B keys are starting to go out. For the past couple weeks I have been considering sending it in for warranty exchange but I have taken very good care of my Kaiser and worry about what I would get back...
Anyone eager enough tried disasembling and cleaning?
Moreover, did it work?
funny thing here is that I get more unresponsiveness in the right side of the keyboard (enter; L; P; direction keys).
It is a real pain...
Most prolly will do it soon
Will let you all know of the outcome
Same here.
Had mine 8 months, the W key is worst, takes a really heavy press to get it to work, has been like that for about 5 months.
Now the B is also getting bad, so is the S.
If i'm likely to get a refurb back i guess i'll just put up with it until my contract is up.
I'm facing the same problem on my HTC herald. HTC keyboard quality has gone way down. I never faced such problem when I had htc universal.
Hey man,
since you had quite some ppls share of PPCs;
did you disassemble any of them before?
Do you think it's a good idea to do it myself?
I'm extra careful normally but I'm having doubts
kdskamal said:
I'm facing the same problem on my HTC herald. HTC keyboard quality has gone way down. I never faced such problem when I had htc universal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Similar problems here with my Tilt. FN, CAP/SHIFT, N are all problematic for me.
Has anyone tried a spray liquid electronic "contact cleaner" on a device like this before?
Weird
Oddly enough, I have had this problem a little bit with mine as well. However mine is the space bar. I, like many others I am sure, have hopped from ROM to ROM. When I changed ROMs the last time, it seemed to fix the issue. It was really weird because a lot of the times I would type something, and the letters would turn out something like this:
Iw antt oe at atj oes.
Like I said, I just swapped ROMs and it seemed to fix it. maybe the t9?
killerbeans said:
Oddly enough, I have had this problem a little bit with mine as well. However mine is the space bar. I, like many others I am sure, have hopped from ROM to ROM. When I changed ROMs the last time, it seemed to fix the issue. It was really weird because a lot of the times I would type something, and the letters would turn out something like this:
Iw antt oe at atj oes.
Like I said, I just swapped ROMs and it seemed to fix it. maybe the t9?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct sir! Just run "disable xt9" (found plenty of places on the kaiser forum) and your problem should be fixed.
I too have had this problem. I noticed it with the d, r, and space bar keys. Interestingly enough the keys that i press often (Take A for example [I have it mapped to the A button in PocketNesterPlus]) aren't hard to press at all. What I'm trying right now is pressing the problem keys over and over again to see if they "loosen up". Best Case Scenario: It works. Worst Case Scenario: I ruin an expensive piece of equipment.
Update: This might be working. To test which keys were unresponsive i typed abcdefghijklmnop.... without exerting any extra effort. The keys w and r didn't show up so i kept working them. I repeated the test and I got r to work. perhaps i am unknowingly pressing r harder, or perhaps not.

Keyboard doubles n and m when typing

I don't know if it's the new rom or just the 'age' (3 month now)...
But since approx. two weekes, by typing messages on the x1 keyboard it doubles or even tripples the letter n, sometimes m? This very annoying...
Anyone have the same problem? All other keys work normal...
Anyone knows how to set a delay at the keyboard? When I press a key and hold it, it take half a second or so until it multiplys the letter. This time i would like to change. Any registry entry?
Thanks for the help...
same issue .. not only m and n on my side..
refer to this post 4 further infos...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=483644
same mine. it's only dust
Mine's the opposite. My 'M' doesn't seem very sensitive. My words always seem to miss that 'M'. But the one that's real sensitive is the '.'. That seems to appear all the time.
it started like this with me .. the "M" alone was the problem ..
now the whole keyboard triples EVERYTHING ! -.-''
we really need help
I had that issue briefly with a R2A German Generic I tried. Never happened again though .
You can improve the situation by lowering the rate at which your key strokes are repeated by going to Settings > Buttons then on the "Up/Down Control" tab if you move the first slider to Slow and the Repeat Rate slider to Slow then the problem sort of "disappears"
I had the same issue with a lot of keys, i, m,n,k,l etc...
I did a hard reset and upgraded my rom, installed sms-chat... did everything but the issue persisted.
Finally i took it to the service center and they replaced the plate underneath which senses the keystroke.
It works fine now...
i dunno about u guys
but i spent all night cleanning the keyboard & its working fine now
its hard ,i used a YouTube video.
hatlo0or said:
i dunno about u guys
but i spent all night cleanning the keyboard & its working fine now
its hard ,i used a YouTube video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly how did you cleaned your keyboard? I want to clean it by myself too.. Which tools did you use?
I used this vedio Xperia X1 - Disassembly Rear
Its harder than it looks , if you try it be VERY carefull as the parts can be easily broken​
hatlo0or said:
I used this vedio Xperia X1 - Disassembly Rear
Its harder than it looks , if you try it be VERY carefull as the parts can be easily broken​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot man!.. i'll give it a try and post the results cause this is a very common problem with the x1's. And probably as common as the cracks on the silver x1's.
Again.. Thanks a lot!
try this fix
i got this cab a while back for this problems, seems to work on wm6.5 also
disassembling did not help - there was no part to clean or to mechanically tighten.
vrbcik said:
disassembling did not help - there was no part to clean or to mechanically tighten.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try the disassembly and clean the keyboard?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=535664
aww wut? i have a problem with my X key as well! i have to push harder to use it and i really dont want to fiddle around with the parts into to clean it.
Great
Hkt said:
Did you try the disassembly and clean the keyboard?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=535664
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I have done it oncemore - and it seems it helped. Although I am sure it was not dirty from "outside". I would say, it was the sticker or the glue from the sticker which made the contacts dirty.
madjokeer said:
i got this cab a while back for this problems, seems to work on wm6.5 also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how does this work what does it do any idea?
I haven't read through all the thread, but I can tell everyone who has this keyboard problem of multiple keystrokes and no keystrokes that it is HARDWARE and it can get worse over time. It can be sometimes lessened by some software tweaks but.... don't expect anything major.
I had the same issue, first starting with "f" then spreading over to space, l, m, n and a lot more keys.
The phone was sent to repair three times with no improvement until the third time when it was replaced. I sent it to Flextronics in Newmarket, ON with an RMA# from Sony Ericsson. I still have the worksheets and everything else if anyone wants to make a sticky because I see a lot of posts about this.
My original phone was a 08W36, I now have a 09W30 with no problems so far...
Better get it fixed before it goes out of warranty.
For those of you out of warranty, I think there were a few threads about this explaining how to disassemble the keyboard and clean the plates.
andreitu said:
I haven't read through all the thread, but I can tell everyone who has this keyboard problem of multiple keystrokes and no keystrokes that it is HARDWARE and it can get worse over time. It can be sometimes lessened by some software tweaks but.... don't expect anything major.
I had the same issue, first starting with "f" then spreading over to space, l, m, n and a lot more keys.
The phone was sent to repair three times with no improvement until the third time when it was replaced. I sent it to Flextronics in Newmarket, ON with an RMA# from Sony Ericsson. I still have the worksheets and everything else if anyone wants to make a sticky because I see a lot of posts about this.
My original phone was a 08W36, I now have a 09W30 with no problems so far...
Better get it fixed before it goes out of warranty.
For those of you out of warranty, I think there were a few threads about this explaining how to disassemble the keyboard and clean the plates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how long did you spend without your x1? sending it to getting it back because obviously if its gonna take 2 weeks then i'll be hesitant to send it :S

Keyboard incredibly unresponsive to key presses

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem (searches lead to fixes with keyboard lag, which help a lot, but my issue is different).
My keyboard is incredibly unresponsive; certain key (i.e. P and V) require incredibly hard repeated presses to register. My keyboard has been going down hill since I got it, but now its a downright pain to use (approaching 2 years of ownership). I'm wondering if this is simply a flaw with the device that most people deal with, or if I have a uniquely bad unit? It doesn't appear to be ROM dependent as this is a consistent problem with all.
Is there a buildup of dust/other stuff under the keys? Usually the most common cause of individual keys getting hard to press. Could also be the membrane inside is wearing. Either way, you'll need to pop her open to check.
I have the same problem with F and takes me to stomp on it before input, after time the Kaiser keyboard seems to become this way there are threads that say about opening up a text doc and circling around the key but never helped me, there must be a way to sort it via a new keyboard "or cleaning but pretty sure the keyboard is glued" but i just got used to it as the age of device.
Sorry i couldn't provide a fix but wanted to let you know your not alone
Thanks for your responses...I figured it was probably just dust or wear n tear, which makes sense as it gets worse as it gets older. I've already opened it up once to replace the screen and it was tricky putting it back together (the left hinge isn't perfect ) but maybe once I get another device I will give it a try.

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